3-lane I-70 on project list for Missouri tax plan

Projects would be funded by 3/4 cent sales tax

Missouri highway officials are proposing to widen Interstate 70 to three lanes in each direction between suburban St. Louis and Kansas City if voters approve a transportation sales tax on the August ballot.

The I-70 project between Wentzville and Independence is the largest item on a list of over 800 proposed projects released Friday by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Other major projects include additional lanes for U.S. 64 in the St. Louis area, U.S. 50 across central Missouri and U.S. 60 heading southwest from Springfield. New bridges would be built over the Missouri River at Kansas City and over the Mississippi River at the northeast Missouri town of Louisiana.

All of the projects would be funded by proposed Constitutional Amendment 7 on the Aug. 5 ballot, which asks voters whether to impose a three-quarters cent sales tax for transportation that would last for 10 years. The measure says it would raise $480 million annually for the state and $54 million annually for cities and counties.

State transportation officials plan to take public comments on the proposed projects through July 3, and the state Highways and Transportation Commission will vote on a final list July 9.

The project list posted on the MoDOT website Friday accounts for $4.8 billion of expenditures over the next decade.

It allots $500 million toward the estimated $1.5 billion total cost of expanding I-70 to three lanes in each direction across the state. MoDOT Chief Engineer Ed Hassinger said existing state and federal funding sources would cover the rest of those costs. Without the sales tax revenue, the long-discussed I-70 project probably will not go forward, he said.

"I-70 is a worn out highway that we continually struggle to keep in shape," Hassinger said.

While Missouri's busiest cross-state highway may grab the headlines, the list also includes hundreds of improvements to other roads and intersections.

"A lot of it is taking care of safety, resurfacing roads around the state, replacing bridges that are really in terrible shape," Hassinger said.

The department's website lists only a general description of the projects with no itemization of the costs. Hassinger said that's because "we didn't think that's what people are interested in."

Although much of the money would go toward roads and bridges, the proposed project list also includes money for other modes of transportation, including for work at more than a dozen airports around the state.

It would finance the purchase of buses in St. Joseph and public transit systems in Branson and numerous other cities; property for Mississippi River ports in Jefferson, Lincoln and Pike counties; greenway trails in St. Louis and other places; sidewalks along highways in various towns; and improvements to Amtrak train stations in Jefferson City and Kirkwood.